One day at a time, one step at a time, one Yes at a time. Not only on race day, but the many, many, many days of training leading up to it.įaith is a marathon. God has a beautiful plan and purpose for each of our lives a race set before us, that He has set us apart to run. That weight needs to be stripped off so that we are able to run. But it does mean that we allow the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin in our lives, and then making the changes He calls us to make so that we can strip off the weight wrenching it away, throwing it away, and walking away from it. This doesn’t mean that we become perfect, able on our own to never sin. We need to say no to any weight that which in and of itself isn’t bad, but has become a distraction and hindrance to our faith, whether it be social media or busy calendars or Netflix binging or the music we listen to or a relationship that is replacing God. We need to say no to sin the disobedience and gratifying our own selfish desires and making excuses for little lapses in righteous living and indulging in activity that isn’t God-honoring. To say no to anything that keeps us from saying yes to God. Since we have so many witnesses to the life of faith, testifying to God’s goodness and faithfulness, we are called to strip off every weight that slows us down. Let us strip off every weight that slows us down The writer of Hebrews used these heroes of the faith, one’s whose stories the readers would have known and been familiar with from the Old Testament Scriptures, as examples to encourage the readers in their own faith. A witness is someone who testifies, and these witnesses are testifying to God’s goodness and faithfulness. There is a huge crowd of witnesses, those many named in Hebrews 11, and even those names that come to our minds of people who have been examples to us in our own faith journey. Since we are surrounded by such huge crowd of witnesses In Hebrews 11, we read of the heroes of faith, ones who said yes to God when He called them to worship, to build, to move, to wait, to parent, to surrender, to bless, to protect, to endure suffering, to lead, to march, to welcome, to help, to fight, to persevere…Īs we move into the opening verses of Hebrews 12, we see how big faith is born, and grows, in our own hearts and lives: Yes, I will stop watching this show, listening to this music, engaging in this activity, because You’ve asked me to. Yes, I will get rid of pride, bitterness, slander, jealousy, gossip, and filthy language. Yes, I will look not only to my own interests, but also to the interests of others. Yes, I will be a good steward of all the resources You have given me. Yes, I will be a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on and a helping hand. Yes, I will care for and be respectful and loving to my family. Yes, I will work at my job and in my home as working unto You. Yes, I will seek Your will and way and wisdom. Yes, I will speak words of encouragement to uplift others. Yes, I will give thanks even in the hard and the heartbreak. Yes, I will forgive and not hold a grudge. Yes, I will pray about my worries instead of worry. Yes, I will make time to be in Your Word daily. No, that kind of big faith comes in saying Yes to God over and over and over. We don’t wake up one morning, all of a sudden fearless and filled with faith, ready to live and even die wholly and solely for Jesus. We become faith-full in the hard and scary by living faithful in the day by day. Our faith has yet to be bigger than our fear.īig faith happens in small steps. It’s just viewed as radical because so many aren’t living it. But all walking in faith-filled obedience to God, no matter what, no turning back. Maybe not all living from paycheck-to-paycheck. It’s the kind of life God calls all His children to live. Really, it isn’t radical - it’s Biblical.
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